Local victims who have died from domestic violence are being honored this month, Domestic Violence Awareness Month, in an exhibit at the Lycoming Mall
"Empty Place at the Table" runs through Saturday near Foot Locker inside the mall. Victims are memorialized with personal place settings around a dinner table.
"There will be 11 settings at the table," said Tracy Mariano, Wise Options community awareness educator. "The empty place at the table is to recognize that the families who lost someone to domestic violence now have an empty place at the table in their families."
Among the victims are Christine Montgomery, Melanie Seitzer-Salgado, Traci L. Wertz, Stephanie Sees, Miriam Zambie Illes, Jennifer Witmer, Jennifer Marie Powell and Dolores Wilson. All died of gun shot wounds.
Tramaine M. Glisson was 21 and Susan Yasipour was just shy of her fifth birthday when each of them were stabbed to death by their fathers. Five-year-old Kalib Nash Blase lost his life after he became victim to a fire his father set to his mother's home.
According to Mariano, the exhibit began with the Women's Resource Center in Lackawanna County in 1993. Wise Options jumped on board after seeing it.
Each of the place settings will have 11 white plates with the name, birthdate of and date of death for each victim.
The exhibit will feature a white tablecloth that is covered with small text, hand-written in silver. From a distance it just looks like a brocade tablecloth.
However, up close, visitors will see that the text displays the personal stories of local women who have been affected by domestic violence, according to Mariano.
In observance of Domestic Violence Awareness Month, the YWCA also is planning a candlelight vigil in its rotunda at 6:30 p.m. Oct. 13 to remember those who were lost as a result of domestic violence. Survivors may speak at the event, according to Mariano.
